Conventional substrate holders 1, illustrated in FIG. 1, include a baseplate 2 fastened to an annular cover 3 using screw fasteners 4. The annular cover 3 includes an annular shoulder 6 for holding the edges of one or more substrates 7 against the baseplate 2. A cylindrical recess 8, or other alignment feature, is provided in the baseplate 2 for receiving a tapered pin from a mounting mechanism in a coating system, thereby providing a mating alignment feature therefor.
Unfortunately, substrate holders, which utilize screw fasteners, waste valuable time during the assembly and disassembly processes, while a technician manually assembles and disassembles the annular cover from the base. Furthermore, manual manipulation of the substrate holder increases the risk of damage to the substrate holders or worse, the substrates themselves.
An object of the present invention is to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art by providing an automated substrate holder assembly device, which eliminates the need for screw fasteners, and minimizes the substrate holder to human contact.